Broken Adonis / Courage of The Damned
by Mamacita
Summary: *Complete* This is for Kat-chan!! Poison...Potent whether a mindset or a venom, is always a dangerous thing. In an emotional journey, Ken and Yolei are about to find out that the cyanide of insecurities and pain can take away the very world around you
1. Default Chapter

Broken Adonis  
Part 1 / Courage of The Damned  
  
Summary: Poison...Potent whether a mindset or a venom, is always a dangerous thing.  
In an emotional journey, Ken and Yolei are about to find out that insecurities and pain can take away the very world around you...  
  
Wow! I love this one! It's the Kenlei for Kat-chan!   
Mistress Kenlei's is next!  
  
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She looked up the word 'incomplete' in the dictionary. It read:  
  
Incomplete: Not complete; imperfect. Lacking in certain parts. As in some flowers.  
  
Was that her? Was that the emptiness she felt? Being incomplete?  
Glancing in the mirror, she looked over her physical self.  
Trim, sleek, slender...Long legs...Nice breasts...Elegant hands and delicate feet..  
But this was not what she saw.   
As her eyes followed her reflection, she saw a scrawny reed...All bumbling legs and lanky figure...To thin by man's definition...To tall by her own...  
  
She looked at her face  
Smooth skin...Bright, honey hued eyes...thickly fringed...Full lips and a graceful jawline...Long mauve hair cascading down the gentle column of her neck...  
But she was blind to her perfection.  
A wan face...Yellow, plain eyes and an ugly visage. Straggly purple hair..An odd color.  
Her reflection watched her with somber intent.  
Sighing, she turned from her mirrored image, switching on her desk lamp.  
The dictionary, in all its wise glory, mocked her with inky faces.  
She blinked rapidly.  
Incomplete...Imperfect...  
Lacking...  
Yes, she thought, as she sadly watched the words blur across her desk.  
Lacking and alone.  
  
Ken continued to search his mind for the correct definition of 'beauty'  
That which is in the eye of the beholder.   
The dictionary read;  
Any of those qualities of objects, sounds emotional or intellectual concepts, behavior, etc. that gratify or arouse admiration to a high degree, especially by the perfection or form resulting from the harmonious combination of diverse elements in unity, or usually pertaining to a women.  
Kari was beautiful.  
She stood beside Tk and Davis, smiling softly up at them as they bickered.  
Kari was lovely.   
She waved him over, smiling, and Ken nodded solemnly. He bent down to pick up a tired little Wormon, and proceeded forward with a grin.  
"Hello Kari." He mumbled shyly, and in the corner of his blue violet eyes, he noticed a slim shadow stand up and walk away.  
Yes, she was just that. A shadow.  
Yolei Inoue. Brash, loud, abrasive and warm, she seemed to dim and darken when beside the child of light.  
But then...Most did.  
Turning back to Kari, Ken brushed a strand of navy hair behind his ears and smiled.  
"What are we here for today?"  
Davis, searched the ominous shadows whose comrade had joined them.  
"Hey? Where did Yolei go?"  
Tk peered behind him, a frown marring his handsome face. "Did she wander off again? That girl is distracted by anything shiny and moving!"  
Kari giggled, and covered her mouth. Davis twisted up his face. "C'mon guys! Don't be such jerks! What if she gets lost or somthin?"  
Ken smirked, a challenge glinting within the depths of his sapphire eyes.  
"Why such concern, Davis? Are you so fickle your feelings have switched to Yolei?"  
Loud mouthed, gentle, forgiving, wonderful Yolei.  
Another definition of beauty.  
Ken drew his dangerous thought's from her, back to taunting the burgundy haired teen.  
He must be cautious. It would be too easy to fall into the depths of the shadows.  
To easy to slip and fall into the tossing current of all that she was.  
He looked back at Kari, whose laughter could brighten even the darkest of hearts, and felt safer, lighter.  
"We had best go find her." He murmured as Davis continued to splutter about Kari and love.  
The other digidestined nodded, Cody began shouting her name as they entered the forest. Their nerves on edge and with reluctant bravery.  
"Why did she wander into here? Why couldn't she go to the beach or somethin? When we find her, I am so gonna tell her that we..."  
They paid Davis no heed as they searched for the missing digidestined.  
  
All her insecurities came to surface beside the light.   
The smile, warm and soft bestowed upon the tiny brunette sliced her to the core.  
Kari was everything she had ever hoped to be. Just like Mimi was everything she aspired to be.  
Kari was gentle and graceful, sweet and thoughtful.  
She was tiny and curvy, with a nymph-like face and laughing smile.  
And she was envious, oh so envious...  
She had stood, tracing a path into the welcoming emptiness that filled her soul, like wind howling and echoing through the crumbling ruins of a castle...  
And she was the great stone mansions banshee.  
Yolei sighed, twirling her fingers around her velvety violet hair, pushing up her glasses with a gloved hand.  
Her booted foot splashed gently, and she looked down into the rippling pool of crystal blue before her.  
So much like his eyes…  
The surface calmed, the ripples smoothing like melting glass, and she gazed upon the unwelcome wavering reflection of herself.  
Angrily, she tore off her yellow helmet, tossing it to the side.  
Her hand's came to her skin, pale and sad, and she touched her face.  
Tear's pooled within the golden depths of her eyes, pouring across the silken sheen and dripping over or beneath her glasses.  
She stripped off her white gloves, running a hand though the adorning strands of purple as she sobbed.  
She was angry and hurt. Bitter and ugly...  
And so weak...So very weak...  
To be feeling like this. To be so self-absorbed. She felt even uglier then before.  
Furious, she swiped at her water image, splashing herself with more then salty tears.  
Yolei stood, brushing a hand over her vest before she tore at the buttons, flinging it aside.   
Clad in a light, pearly blouse and her red pants and boots, her lavender hair wild and curling around her face, she resembled some Celtic goddess sent to tame the crushing jade and ebony wildlife around her.  
She sniffled, feeling liberated, and continued though the trees.  
  
"Look at this!"  
Davis eagerly lifted an orange-yellow helmet out of the dim grass, carrying it above his head like a war prize.  
"It's her helmet!" Kari clapped, searching the glade for some sign of their friend.  
"But I don't see her..." The blonde digidestined of hope's eyes fluttered around the pool. Crystalline and clear in the shadows of the forest.  
Ken looked towards the water, tempted to brush his fingers over the glassy surface, to ripple the perfect imperfection.  
"And look! It's her vest! And her gloves!"  
The Digidestined leader blushed angrily as he looked sideways at Tk and Ken.  
"So what...Is Yolei like, wandering around naked?!"  
Kari frowned, arching a delicate brown brow. "The rest of her stuff isn't here, so it's safe to assume she's decent."  
"So far..." muttered Tk, and Davis snickered.  
Ken remained facially impassive, as he searched his mind for some reason she would leave them like this...Some sign as to were she was gone to.  
It galled him to think that he was losing his genius. Things like that didn't just leave you.  
His keen eyes darkened to a shade like burnt violets, and he set Wormon upon the ground.  
"See over there?" He whispered, and the other Digidestined stopped to listen to his quiet words.  
"Over there, the twigs have been broken. And the leaves are disturbed."  
Cody, who had remained silent until then nodded. "I see. I take it she went that way. And in a hurry..."  
Davis frowned, scratching his burgundy hair. "Is she running from us? But why?"  
Ken looked deep within himself, frightened and worried for the graceful girls safety.  
"Maybe she's being chased?"  
Kari shook her head, not understanding. "By what? Or who? She left the camp by her own free will..."  
The blue haired boy shook his head, attempting to quell his growing anxiety.  
"By herself..."  
The comment had come from their leader, who gazed pensively into the shadows before giving the gesture to follow.  
It was then that Ken noticed the single drop of a crystal tear, clinging elegantly to an emerald strand of green.  
And he knew...  
And his heart cracked, just a little more...  
  
She gained control of herself, quieting her sobs when the realization of just how far she had fled hit her.  
The black woods were alive and seething with a thousand different threats from the glowing eyes cloaked within a shroud of ebony.  
Yolei whimpered, turning to leave the way she had come, but she couldn't find it!  
She spun, throwing herself against the back of a tree, no less in danger.  
"Oh God!" She whispered frantically, as the leaves rustled. Steps drew closer.   
"I'm gonna die!"  
She closed her eyes, pushing against the chafing bark of the tree.   
"I want Hawkmon...!"  
She blinked rapidly as a gust of warmth scathed her skin.  
She opened her eyes...  
And screamed.  
An enormous digimon, insectoid and organic, hissed at her, it's shiny black eyes like glistening wet marbles as they rolled within it's head.  
"Oh nononononnooo!" She whispered as it opened its jaws, saliva dripping over its fanged and bristly face with all the horror of Hell.  
It drew back upon its arachnid like body and hissed again.  
She screamed.  
  
"Oh my God! That's Yolei!"  
Ken gasped as a shattering scream tore throw his soul like shredded paper.  
Laden with terror and tears, the high pitched, blood curdling cry was like icewater flowing through his veins.  
He felt moisture fill his eyes, desperation cloud his judgement, as he bolted off in the direction of the sound, the Digidestined right behind him.  
Wormon, Veemon, Hawkmon, Armadillomon, Patamon and Gatomon darted around the pounding feet, and the crash of green wood and wildlife echoed through their consciousness.  
They would be too late, he would be too late!  
The mantra burned itself on his mind as his breathing grew labored.  
Another screech rent the air, the sound panicked and hopeless, just as they burst through the forest.  
Kari cried out and Tk gasped as the huge, spidery digimon lunged for the terror stricken Yolei.  
"Don't!" Screamed Ken, darting forward.  
He crashed in front of the girl, listening with shocked fascination as an answering scream of his name pounded though his hears, along with the loud tear of a gray school uniform.  
A vaporous mist, like acidic pollen filled his lungs, and his face tuned red.  
He felt the jarring impact of the ground, the cried attack of Stingmon, and the dim silence afterwards.  
He hacked again as a desperate pair of slender arms pulled upon his shoulders.  
Ken struggled to his knees, dizzy and frantic as the world dimmed.  
The far away scream of Yolei shouting his name bounced through his brain, and he gasped, a dragging, shuddering breath that sounded as if he was breathing in mud.  
And maybe he would be...  
He felt as if his world suddenly burst into flame, and he clutched weakly at his throat, scratching at the fabric.  
His wild blue eyes looked at the ground, and he coughed, blood spattering across his lips. and onto the grass.  
  
A wail of agony hit his fading consciousness, the sound again the girl he had saved, and the last thing he saw was the single drop of ruby dew, clinging darkly to an emerald strand of green.  
And Yolei knew...  
And her heart cracked, just a little more...  
  
"He's been poisoned!"  
Davis stood in shock over the prone form of the dead looking boy.  
He lay in a puddle of his own red blood, his eyes glazed and half open. His pale fingers clutched the shirt sleeve of Yolei Inoue as her hands desperately fluttered over him, screaming.  
Tk had felt the steady, albeit weak pulse, and he had stepped away, leaving the girl in her anguish.  
"We've got to do something!" Kari yelled, summoning forth Gatomon.  
Wormon stood across from Yolei, in shock at the limp body of Ken Ichijouji.  
The heather haired girl sobbed, petting his hair as she made sure he could breath.  
Her agonized golden eyes, wide and glazed with shock and fear, cut Davis to the quick as he realized two things.  
One. She loved him. Two. To do this, Ken loved her to.  
He turned away from the gruesome scene, as Cody knelt beside the barely there body.  
"Ken seems to have absorbed that Digimon's poison when it attacked Yolei. But I don't know what to do..."  
Yolei stroked the pale face, smearing blood across the skin.  
"Why is there so much blood! Why was he coughing up blood!"  
Davis pulled her away from the sprawled form, and Tk stepped forward, carefully lifting the slender boy up and carrying him to Pegususmon.  
"Why was there so much blood Cody!" The girl wailed, staring at her hands. She wiped them along her white shirt, a red smear of life's pain across the pearly silk.  
"I should have been me! I should be there! He didn't have to save me!"  
She struggled within the strong arms of Davis, who silently pleaded for help with Kari.  
The brunette stepped forward, resting a soothing hand on the wailing girls shoulder.  
"Stop it, Yolei! Ken is still alive, and-and...He's coughing up blood because of that poison! But it can't be that bad, or else he wouldn't be with us right now!"  
Breaking down, the girl sank to the ground and sobbed, her tears darkening the souls of all who heard, with sorrow.  
  
"Is Ken gonna make it, TS?" The weak query made the blonde sigh, and he ran a hand through the short spikes upon his head. "I'm not a doctor, Davis..."  
The leader, sitting atop of Flamdramon as Tk hovered above, cast a worried gaze to the unconscious body of the boy genius. The blue eyes still half open, a blind sheen covering the intelligent depths.  
"That was Arachnimon, a poisonous plant digimon with a nasty attitude. His acid burn attack will knock you off your feet!"  
Frowning, the blonde looked at Flamedramon.  
"Is there a cure for him? Can you get it?"  
The digimon nodded vaguely.   
"There's a plant called Trikodania that will cure the poison...But the attacks effect on a human...We don't know what the antidote would do now, either..."  
Clenching his fists, Davis looked at the unconscious Kaiser. "We have to try! Look at him now! He's just dyin' away!"  
Silently, Pegasusmon and Flamdramon looked at each other, then at their companions.  
"We will find it, Tk. But one of us has to stay here. Hawkmon can go because the way Yolei is now...I don't think Halsemon will be making another appearance."  
Sure enough, when they looked up, they saw Yolei clinging to the back, fading before their eyes.  
With a quick shout, an explanation and a transfer of bodies...Halsemon and Pegasusmon left to find the flower..  
Davis looked at Ken, blood painting the front of his shirt.  
"But...Why all the bleeding, TR?"  
Tk sighed, confused as the other. "I don't know! Cody said it was because the poison was acidic and it caused million's of tiny scratches along his throat...He seems steady now, but none of us know about medicine beyond what they just said."  
The rest of the journey was made in silence.  
  
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On to part two 


	2. Broken Adonis Part 2 / If The Darkness I...

Broken Adonis  
Part 2 / If The Darkness Is To Keep Us Apart  
  
Summary: Poison...Potent whether a mindset or a venom, is always a dangerous thing.  
In an emotional journey, Ken and Yolei are about to find out that insecurities and pain can take away the very world around you...  
  
Wow! I love this one! It's the Kenlei for Kat-chan!   
Mistress Kenlei's is next! (The title is from Walk On by U2)  
  
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Yolei slept. A fearful, haunted sleep.  
Agony tore at her heart, crushing the gentle depths of her soul with a bony fist of torture.  
She moaned, terrified by the images of blood and the sound's of Ken's scream.  
Bathed in firelight, The Digidestined and Wormon stood vigil over the boy.  
Bringing him closer to the fire to see if they could sweat out any remaining toxins.  
Still he slept...  
And in darkness...He dreamed...  
  
"Sam!"  
The sickening thud of boy against vehicle...  
The obvious victor...  
The screams and the sirens...  
  
The crashing thunder of a thousand terrified Digimon as they screamed..  
  
The echoing wails of pain as he sobbed in the darkness...  
The hollow black that was his soul...  
His memories, a cacophony of loneliness and sorrow poured over him like physical, draining misery.  
He screamed without voic, wept without tears.  
He was lost within a hazy sea of ebony and shadows...  
And he was hot...So hot...  
It was if the fires of Hades scorched his flesh...The bones blackening and crumbling beneath the roar and din of flame.  
He couldn't move...He couldn't breathe...  
  
He couldn't see...  
  
The Digidestined crowded round the ex-emperor, unable to do more.  
"He has a fever! We need to bring it down!"  
The soft, clogged whisper of the Digidestined of love and sincerity shook the others, and they backed away, allowing her access.  
She knelt, tearfully picking up a cloth from the bucket Davis had thoughtfully supplied.  
She bit her lip as she stroked it over his face.  
The blood faded, still staining his gray uniform  
The slice across his shoulder was bandaged and clean. Kari putting her knowledge gleaned from Joe to the test, and he appeared peaceful...  
Save for the glazed vision and beading sweat.  
She wept even as she smiled slightly. The sweat was good...The eyes were not...  
Yolei turned away from his handsome face, weak and tired, cursing her own stupidity.  
"Why did he..did he do it?" She murmured, running the cool cloth over his chest.  
Tk shook his head, shrugging. "We don't know Yolei. One minute he was standing behind Davis...The next he was-"  
"Realizing the full extent of his feelings..." finished Davis, who stared at the fallen comrade.  
The others turned surprised, and glanced at the girl beside Ken.  
Yolei turned back to the Digidestined of kindness, hiding behind her hair.  
"Then he should have kept them unrealized...If it meant this, he should have let me die!"  
Kari knelt beside the girl, who turned into her sisterly arms, Tk taking the cloth from loose fingers.  
"I-I just felt so alone! I-I-I just wanted to run away from my pr-problems for a bit...I felt so useless and u-ugly...And I may have just killed the boy I love!"  
She clenched her fists, tilting her head back in anguish.  
"I may have just killed him!" She wailed again...  
And Tk looked into the devoid eye's of their friend.  
Not killed...Lost...  
  
Ken could hear voices...An echo and call of the new friends belonging to him..  
Davis...  
Takeru...  
Cody...  
Kari...  
Yolei...  
  
Yolei...  
They would die! It would be his fault...If he could just keep it away!  
  
Ken bolted upright, a jerky, course movement. Blindly searching the darkening shadows of the peaceful clearing.  
But he saw none of them...He saw nothing...  
"Don't leave me here alone! Don't leave me in the dark!"  
Kari, who had been sitting beside him, pushed on the shoulders that refused to go down.  
"Don't leave me in the dark!" The blue haired boy screamed again, roughly grabbing hold of the girl by the shoulders.  
Davis made as if to go for the teenager, but Tk stopped him. Shaking his head.  
"Don't leave me in the dark!"  
The blonde looked nervous. "Ken can't see Davis...He isn't looking at Kari...He isn't looking at 'anything'!"  
The boy on the ground growled as he screamed the mantra again, waking Yolei and Cody.  
"Don't leave me in the dark!"  
Tears accompanied the shout and he bared his teeth, weakening.  
Yolei backed away, fearful at the blindness of Ken's eyes.  
"Where is she?! What about Wormon?! Where is she?!"  
The brunette he fiercely gripped tried to pull away as she whispered.  
"Who, Ken? Who!"  
The boy shook her, and Davis could stand it no more, he darted forward, wrenching Kari from his arms and drawing her back.  
"Where did she go! Where did she go! Where is she!!!  
The leader looked fearfully at his friend, swallowing.  
"I-s Ken l-losing his mind, guys?"  
An answering roar met his ears.  
"WHERE DID SHE GO!!"  
Taking a step forward, Tk knelt beside the raging teen, who looked more like the emperor then ever before.  
"Ken, you gotta tell me who!"  
The boy launched forward, surprisingly strong, and grabbed the Digidestined by the shoulders.  
"Yolei! Yolei! Where is Yolei!"  
Gasping, the girl continued to move away, even as she summoned her courage.  
"Where is she!" The boy broke, relinquishing Tk and covering his blind eyes with his hands.  
"Don't leave me in the darkness, Yolei! Wormon! I don't want to be alone!"  
Startled by the vehement pain, the girl took a step forward, reaching a hand to him.  
"I'm right here Ken..."  
Davis made to move forward, blocking her way, and Ken had no reaction.  
She moved closer, kneeling beside him.  
"Ken..."  
Suddenly, he lunged for her, knocking her backward with himself on top.  
His arm's wrapped around her, and he buried his agonized face against her collarbone. His sobbing grew in crescendo, and his hands mauled her body and face, all the while as he whispered her name frantically.  
She would have been embarrassed by the blatant sexuality of his movements or words, but she understood that it was pain, not pleasure speaking for him.  
She whispered sweet nothings, tearfully, in his ear, stroking his indigo hair and calming him.  
The others looked on in confused fascination as Ken writhed and clutched at Yolei.  
"What's going on!" whispered Cody, anger in his voice. "Why isn't somebody helping them!"  
Kari shook her head, tears filling her face. "She's helping him Cody."  
Davis watched, wide eyes, as Ken gently bit at Yolei's neck, whispering her name harshly.  
The purple haired girl closed her eyes, her hand stilling on his neck.  
It almost looked like they were making love...  
But the pain crossing both their faces, one blind, one afraid, spoke differently.  
Yolei brushed her hand along his skin, crying as he whispered bitter, painful things into her ear.  
"You want to know me? You want me?"  
She closed her eyes, biting her lip. Stones ground into her back, dust crept through her hair and on he hissed, like a thousand snakes of Lucifer.  
"You love this...Monster I am! I killed my brother...I killed Wormon....I hunted the Digital world like it was a game! I hurt innocent Digi-"  
He continued to hurl epithets against himself, tearing at her body as if trying to melt into her.  
"Where are you, Yolei? You're so warm...Gentle...Where are you?"  
"I'm right here Ken."  
His whimpering quieted and his breathing seemed to calm, his wild, blind eyes searching the darkness.  
"Where are you? I'm so...Dirty...I'll taint you all...So dirty..."  
He swiped his hands along her frame, sighing as he did so.  
"Like blood...I'll contaminate you like tainted blood...So dirty..."  
Ken swallowed as he leaned his sweaty forehead back against her neck.  
His muttering turned into wracking sobs, wetness trickling down her throat.  
"Dirty...I can't find you in the dark...I'm so alone..."  
And this is how they stayed until dawn, when the ex-Kaiser drifted off to torturous sleep.  
  
Yolei's guilt was supreme as she cradled the broken, unseeing form of Ken Ichijouji.  
She sighed and stroked his face, sweat beading on her fingers.  
Carefully, she rested his unconscious head in her lab, freeing her hands to touch him.  
Tk nodded to the others, who retreated to a respectable distance, wary of an outburst.  
The lavender haired girl combed her fingers through his straggly indigo hair as he shook gently.  
Her soft voice, hoarse from tears, painted a beautiful picture for the sleeping figure.  
She hoped to...Well, to help him...Calm him...Save him.  
"...And then we can go to that little ice cream parlor on fifth...Do you know the place? It's called Ice Cream de la Crème, and it's really good...And Davis will order the Peanut Butter Brittle Nut, waffle cone double like always...And Tk will get the Cookie's and Cream...Kari will get Strawberry Mango...And Cody will get Vanilla Lime...I'll get the Devil's Food Cake, (I like the cherries) And you could get...Well, I don't know...We've never gone out for Ice cream. I think you might like the Blue Ice...It's a sherbet...Or maybe the Chocolate Chip Cherry Chunk...Maybe...We can do that..."  
She smiled weakly, drawing a shuddering breath.  
"And then we can all go to the park...And you and Davis will race your boats...We both know who will win...And then Kari will give the victor a kiss...And I can pretend it didn't happen (Sorry) And then I-I can help Cody with his kite, and we'll fly it...And the sky will be so blue! It will be like a all the angels have opened their sapphire wings, just to shine upon us..."  
Ken's face showed no sign of anything, but Yolei continued to weave her adventures, hoping against hope, that maybe...Just maybe, she could reach him.  
  
The grasping darkness clutched at him with shriveled fingers...Tugging him back within the deceptively warm, black depths.  
But a ray of light, accompanied by a soothing voice, etched itself across his inner eye...Caressing his face within it's white purity, and holding the wretched hands at bay.  
A voice that bespoke of sunlit glades and cotton candy carnivals...soft, moonlit nights and a million ice creams....A sunshine smoothed sailboat, wind-whipped and crisp cascading across silken seas, and a thousand times and places...  
And it kept him tied to the light...Anchored him gently to the hazy reality that eluded him.  
And he was grateful and anguished as he drifted farther and closer from it.  
Ken tried to cry for the voice...Tried to lift his fingers towards the light.  
'Please stay!' He whispered to the glimmer 'I need you to be with me!'   
Sadness overwhelmed him as the voice faded, then returned.  
'Don't leave me in the darkness...Please!' His voice echoed across the empty hollowness, retreating back to him...  
'Yolei?! Is it you again? Where are you Yolei?!'  
He cried inside himself, the burning pain surrounding him as flames seemed to lick at his limbs.  
'I'm sorry...I don't want to taint you, or the others...So sorry' His voice drifted away like mists and his voice dimmed.  
'I killed Wormon...And Sam...I'm worthless. Forgive me if you can...I won't bear a grudge...Just don't leave me in the darkness..."  
His whisper faded...And he sank between the light and beyond, again...  
  
"Is he any better?"  
Davis nervously wrung his hands, scuffing his feet against the dirt, as he edged towards his best, human friend.  
"Yolei? How is he?"  
As he looked closer at the two, purple head bent over indigo, he realized she was asleep.  
"Oh man, Poor Yolei!"  
Tk, coming up behind him, shook his kind head.  
"I don't understand what's going on...But we both know we can't let Ken go back to Earth!"  
Davis clenched his fist. "I don't understand that! He's sick, we have to help him!"  
Shaking his head, Tk looked at Kari, snuggling up beside a frightened young Cody then Wormon and the other little Digimon, huddled protectively around the tiny green bug..  
"Davis...We don't know whether this...Poison, Ken had inhaled..Is infectious! We don't know if it's been transmitted to any of us! And we can't, we can't risk infecting normal people!"  
He broke off, frightened and brave. Bearing a cross no young boy should have to bear  
He gestured to Kari, comforting Cody, or Yolei, huddled against Ken.  
"We're all alone on this one, Davis...We can't even let the others come help us..."  
The blonde hung his head, his shoulders sagging. He breathed out for a moment, before raising anguished blue eyes to the other boy.  
"We have no one on this but each other and our Digimon, Davis! And I just don't know what to do..."  
Davis swallowed, pain flowing through him as he looked at all his friends.  
He was scared...This wasn't a fight you could use physical force with, and he was at a definite loss...He turned towards the fire.  
  
It was at 2:00 the next afternoon, when Ken awoke again.  
"Stop iiiiiittttt!!"  
Ken's scream tore across the weary clearing, the companion Digimon brought to attention, Wormon eagerly looking at his friend.   
Fear vs. joy.  
"Stop it now! Just leave me alone!"  
Fear triumphed.  
The boy flailed, wrenching from a tired Yolei's grasp. Gasping, she backed away, leaving the blue haired teen to fall to his knees.  
A mirror image from the forest, he drew in a pulling, dry, drought of air, and hacked blood over his lips...Though this time it was accompanied by black fluid.  
He periodically coughed and screamed, swearing and crying and blind.  
The other Digidestined watched as he collapsed again, and Yolei sobbed as she drew his crumpled form back into her tired embrace.  
She cried so hard she couldn't speak...  
  
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Onward to chapter 3!!  



	3. Broken Adonis Part 3 / Inse-Cure-ities

Broken Adonis  
Part 3 / Inse-Cure-ities  
  
Summary: Poison...Potent whether a mindset or a venom, is always a dangerous thing.  
In an emotional journey, Ken and Yolei are about to find out that insecurities and pain can take away the very world around you...  
  
Wow! I love this one! It's the Kenlei for Kat-chan!   
Mistress Kenlei's is next!  
  
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'Stop iiiiiittttt!!'  
The light was losing! It was fading! Gone!  
He struggled to move himself, to free himself...But he couldn't move!  
'Stop it now! Just leave me alone!'  
The darkness, smeared itself over him, lengthening the shadows in his mind, absorbing the light.  
'No!!!'   
For a mere second, the darkness receded and he caught a glimpse of lavender hair-  
-Yolei-  
and emerald grass, covered in liquid ebony.  
Then it went black again.  
But she had been there...She was the voice that told him of beautiful scenes and might-be future's  
The light that gleamed through the dark, and the warmth in the cold.  
-Yolei-  
He felt the haze lift, a little more before a blanket of midnight encloaked him in the burning agony once again.  
  
Yolei tore at his fist's as they wrenched at his own throat, she shook him, trying to wake the boy, as he clawed frantically at his face, drawing blood.  
"Ken! Stop it! Stop it now!"  
He let out a wail, a low, keening sob that drew across her skin like a slap. The moaning scream brought the others into action after their frozen shock, and Tk, Davis and Cody restrained the flailing boy as he cried, kicking.  
Kari rushed to a pack, retrieving a length of nylon cord and handing it to Yolei who tearfully tied his limbs.  
He wrenched at the bondage, trying to disengage it, but it would not relent.  
The boys held him onto the ground, placing hands upon his face as he tossed it.  
"We have to stop him!"  
"We don't know how!"  
Yolei shoved herself to her knees, stumbling a ways away where she fell again, gagging.  
Kari quickly jumped up, racing to her, and Ken began to still.  
"Yolei! Are you sick!"  
The lavender haired girl shook her head no, but could not speak.  
The brunette knelt beside her, rubbing her back, and pulling back her hair in case she vomited.  
Ken began to thrash with renewed anxiety at the mention of her name, choking and screaming her name.  
She wept harder, unable to catch her breath as she listened to him screeching her name, terrified.  
Yolei rose up, swiping at her tears as she went back to him.  
Cody leapt from his place holding down Ken's foot, stepping in front of her.  
"Don't Yolei! You have to rest! You won't be of any help to him if you get sick to!"  
The implications set in, and Yolei weakly braced her shoulders, squaring her jaw.  
"I won't be any help to him by standing here well he's terrified either."  
She brushed by, falling to her knees, and his thrashing calmed to the keening sobs and twitches.  
With tired gentleness born of love and fear, she embraced his weak body, and tried to forget the world and the horror of the situation.  
"Ken..." She cried softly "Don't leave us! We haven't even had the chance to really talk...And theirs do much I'd like to say..."  
Kari turned to Davis and Tk, who held her as she wept.  
The other little digimon held back, afraid, well Wormon looked on in misery.  
"Ken-chan, you have to make it....You're my best friend."  
  
Flamdramon and Halsemon returned that night.  
Carrying a bundle of electric blue petals and stems, they landed back at camp with much tired celebration.  
They explained that they had found the plant beside a riverbank, where a friendly terriermon said it would be, and they returned as fast as possible.  
After three days.  
Yolei cried out to the dedigivolved Hawkmon, and they embraced happily.  
She cried, burying her face in his feathers before turning back to Ken.  
Wormon stared up at her, his crystal eyes wide and heartbroken.  
"Will Ken be okay now, Yolei?"  
She sniffed, plucking the little guy off the ground and into her arms.  
"I don't know, Wormon...But we'll stay with him, if he comes out of it...Or not..."  
  
It was two more days of hellish screams and hopeless sobs, forced elixers and poultrices, before Ken woke up. He blinked sporadically, and the glaze diminished.  
With a groaning whimper, he slowly roused himself from the pits of Hades.  
"W-Wormo-on?" He croaked dryly, and the green Digimon jumped of the sleeping Yolei's stomach in eager haste to his friend.  
"Ken! Ken is that you??"  
The blue haired boy winced, flopping back down and raising a shaky hand to his head.  
"Of c-course it is, Wo-ormon…"  
Joyously, the bug ran and got Ken some water, helping the weak boy get it from point A to point B.  
"Ken...Do you remember what happened to you?"  
Fear crept across Ken's face and he touched his eyelids, his hands then falling limply to his chest.  
"Y-yes...and no."  
Torn images of sinking, murky darkness and pearly light....Broken memories and shards of pain filtered through his psyche like splintered diamonds.  
And through it all...A voice..  
Soft and comforting...Exciting and breathtaking in it's beauty.  
"W-Wormon...? Did somebody...Talk to me?"  
Another memory carved through the murky fog of forgetfulness.  
"What happened to Yolei! Is she hurt! Is she ok!"  
"Look Ken...Yolei is asleep right beside you!"  
The indigo head snapped to the left, where Yolei lay curled. Head pillowed on her palm, tears drying upon her face.  
"She stayed with you more then even I did Ken...When you went through your...Fits...She was the only one who could calm you...Not even I could help."  
Wormon sadly watched the sleeping girl. A friend now to him as well.  
"She was frantic...She cried so much..."  
Ken sighed, wearily. Relief and guilt plaguing him even as his eyes drifted shut.  
He was so tired...But the blackness beyond sleep...Would it return?  
He opened his scratchy periwinkle eyes to the starry sky above, then searched for Wormon who crept into his arms.  
"I-If I don't wake up Wormon, because of the poison or a coma or whatever...Don't be afraid for me...Tell each of them what they meant to me...If I don't wake up."  
Exhausted he slid back into slumber. This time prepared.  
'Don't be afraid Wormon...My fear is enough for the both of us.'  
  
Yolei stretched painfully, easing the ache and pang in her joints as she blearily replaced her glasses.  
She wiped her sandpaper gaze, nudging over to Ken where Davis and Tk sat.  
With a yawn, she joined them.  
"Any change, boys?"  
They smiled at her, and hope flamed brightly in her chest.  
"Yolei! Ken's eyes are shut! And he's not twitching! I think he's gonna wake up soon!"  
Eagerly, Davis babbled on to himself, well Tk rolled his azure eyes and smiled at her.  
"I hope he wakes up. It will be so good to have him back!"  
Yolei looked at the now peacefully sleeping Digidestined, Wormon cradled in his arms.  
"We don't have to tell him...Everything, do we?"  
Davis stopped mid blabber, spinning his face to her own.  
"Are you kidding? Of course we will! Ken has the right to know what went on! Besides that, I'd like to know what was going on in his own head at some points!"  
The blonde blushed, looking away, and the girl raged.  
"Why would Ken want to know everything! He obviously wasn't himself!"  
Her yell roused the boy, who blinked in an effort to clear his eyes.  
"Davis...Yolei...Tk...Yolei..."  
Davis crossed his arms. "You said that!" Then laughed, giving his best human friend a quick hug.  
"Man! We thought we'd lost ya there for a while! This is sooo cool!"  
Ken smiled weakly, comprehension in his face.  
"Yes well..." He thought back to the searing pain in his body and winced. "Cool isn't the way I'd describe this."  
Next, Tk shook Ken's limp hand, patting him gently on the back.  
"Geez Ken you sure gave us a scare! Nobody knew....Well...That's not important now. I'm just so glad you're gonna be ok!"  
Davis nudged Tk, giving him a none to subtle hint.  
The blonde looked at Ken, who was looking half fearful at Yolei, who was looking at the ground.  
"We'll just...Go now and find the other two!"  
They darted off into the trees, leaving ex-Kaiser and Digidestined alone.  
They said nothing. The martyr and the shadow at odds with the world, and hidden beyond mountains of shame.  
Lost within the embroiling thoughts of what to say and how to say it, Yolei didn't notice Ken shakily sit up and move beside her before he was right there.  
Instinct almost prevailed as she lifted her arms to gather her to him, before realizing that was over and he was better now.  
Crimson, she let her arms fall to her sides.  
There was an almost perverse sense of loss that her days of holding him close were finished. Sudden tears brightened her sunny gaze, and Ken nervously put a hand on her arms.  
"Don't cry Yolei. I'm going to be better now..."  
They sat in silence, roles reversed, as Yolei wept uncontrollably, a mix of bitter laughter and pain mixed with relief.  
"I un-underst-stand that K-Ken!"  
He looked at his fingers as they shakily snuck around her shoulders.  
"You don't have to say anything...But I'd to know...Why did you run off like that? You could have gotten hurt!"  
Bitterly, she flung off his arm, stumbling to her feet.  
"Yes! I could have! But you took that hit for me and now you act like nothing happened!"  
She furiously brushed at the oncoming tears. Looking hurt and angry and beautiful.  
He was remembering her light as he watched her...The light that saved him.  
Ken knew now that she wasn't the shadow...She was so much more...  
"You almost 'died' for me Ken! And I don't even know why! You could have let Halsemon take care of it! Or...Or..."  
Ken sighed, looking up at her from beneath dull navy hair.  
"Yolei...You know that there was no time to digivolve...It was all or nothing."  
Biting her lip, the girl winced.  
"Then it should have been nothing!"  
At Ken's now angry protestations, Yolei looked ashamed.  
"I know I should be thanking you Ken...But when I saw you there...And there was so much blood, so much agony inside you..."  
She turned quickly, lavender hair fanning around her. Her whisper was quiet as she came and sat back down next to the hurt and mad Digidestined.  
"Let's not be stupid Ken...Let's not play games..."   
She sadly watched the green digital trees, careful to avoid his stare.  
"You know how I feel about you...And I know how you feel about Kari.."  
She put up a small hand to silence him, and mutely, he agreed.  
"I just had to watch the most painful thing in my life...But somehow, with you conscious and listening to me, this is even harder."  
She drew in a deep, shuddery breath. "When you where sick...You would have these, panic attacks. And you would scream and get violent and say the most horrible things about yourself. Or you would cry...And my heart broke more with every tear. I have seen the best of you Ken. And now I've seen the worst. But I love you."  
Her courage faltered at his silence, but she continued despite her anxiety.  
"I love everything about you Ken. And even though I know I'm ugly, abrasive and loudmouthed and cruel...I had hoped that maybe one day-"  
"I would love you to."  
She stopped, sighing, and turned her wide golden eyes to him. He nodded his sleepy blue eyes and with a sad smile, lifted his touch to her cheek.  
"You are loudmouthed Yolei. And you can be abrasive...But you're beautiful..And I love every part of you. Good or bad." At her vehement negative shake of her head, he brought his other hand to her face, stilling the movement.  
"You 'are' beautiful and sweet and warm and gentle." He searched her gaze with his own, tears filling his eyes.  
"I'm not very good at relationships, but...I fell in love with you before we were who we are. I fell in love with your vibrancy and your pride, your caring and your smile..."  
He touched a gentle finger to her mouth, then her collarbone.  
"You were what brought me back Yolei. I could here your voice weaving a thousand adventures and summer days...A million ways to love you, and a thousand memories to make...Please don't take that away from me..."  
Yolei gasped tearfully, a tremulous smile crossing her face, and she reached up, taking Ken's hand's in her own.  
"Thank you Ken...Thank you."  
He laughed weakly, but bright all the same. "No Yolei...Thank you. Because you are beautiful...You're everything I want. Say we can make those dreams happen, please?"  
Ken wrapped his arms around her shoulders, sliding down her body until his weary face rested against her stomach.  
"And you can get the sherbet when we go to the ice cream parlor...And we can sail on the yacht with the warm sun against our face and the foaming emerald sea beneath us..."  
With little laugh, She embraced him, joy running through her.  
It was going to be alright...They would go home, and they would fight more enemies. They would make love and have a million ice creams...  
Yolei hugged Ken tighter, aching with happiness and fear of the future.  
But she was beautiful...She always had been.  
And she was complete.  
  
  
-Mamacita  
I've had this one ticking in my head for a long time!  
This is for you Kat-chan!!  
  
  



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